The present invention relates to a waterproof structure and electronic equipment including the waterproof structure.
As one example of a waterproof structure used when an electroacoustic transducer (for example, a microphone, a speaker or the like) is to be attached to a case panel, there is known a structure as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2006-333076 (Patent Literature 1). This structure is configured such that a microphone is pressed and fitted into a sleeve of the case panel in a state where the microphone is embraced by a substantially cylindrical rubber shield member. Waterproofness and favorable acoustic characteristics are obtained by disposing a thin film on a part of the shield member facing a tone port formation area of the microphone and forming a space between the thin film part and the microphone.
In the waterproof structure described in Patent Literature 1, since the body of the shield member is made of rubber and hence is soft, it is liable to be deformed when pressed into the sleeve. In addition, the thin film part of the shield member is not in contact with other members. Thus, the thin film part is readily deformed together with the body of the shield member when the shield member is pressed into the sleeve of the case panel. If the thin film part is deformed, the vibration characteristic of the thin film part may be changed and it may sometimes occur that sound gathered by the microphone fails to maintain the designed quality and is deteriorated. In addition, (1) presence of deformation of the thin film part with deformation of the body of the shield member and (2) the deformation condition observed when the thin film part is deformed, differ among individual microphones. Thus, the quality of the sound gathered by the microphone also differs among the microphones and a large fluctuation occurs in the sound quality.
The quality of the sound gathered by the microphone to which the waterproof structure described in Patent Literature 1 is applied is liable to be deteriorated and to fluctuate as mentioned above and further improvement is desirable. When an object to which the above-mentioned waterproof structure is applied is a speaker, deterioration and fluctuation of the sound quality occur similarly. That is, the quality of sound reproduced by the speaker is liable to be deteriorated and to fluctuate and hence further improvement is also desirable.